City want Chiellini and Kjaer; Chelsea’s £55m kitty

The Premier League's big spenders are dusting off their chequebooks and with just days to go before the January sales it looks like it could be a vintage year.

Chelsea have a massive kitty and want to buy now in case they are banned from doing so in the summer, while Roberto Mancini, Manchester City's new boss, is keen to bring in new personel.

The result is a host of talents, young and old, being sized up.

The Sun reports that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is ready to splash out £55m in the January transfer window as the Blues look to reassert their dominance in the Premier League. December has been a bad month for Chelsea, with one win in six games, and the Russian billionaire is determined to turn things around.
 
Atletico Madrid's striker Sergio Aguero (above) and Monaco midfielder Jerko Leko are both in Chelsea's sights, says the Sun, though it quotes a Blues source as saying: "Atletico are asking silly money". Apparently, if the Spanish club bid Aguero out of the market, Chelsea will go for Ajax's Uruguay forward Luis Suarez or Roma's World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi.

Chelsea's need for a world-class forward is all the more urgent because Didier Drogba and Saloman Kalou will both be absent from Stamford Bridge next month as they compete in the Africa Nations Cup in Angola. "It should be a busy time because the desire is there, the money is there, the options are there," the Chelsea source told the paper.

One player not mentioned by the Sun is Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni who, says the Daily Mail, is another Chelsea target. The 32-year-old Italian has had a series of public spats with Bayern manager Louis van Gaal and Chelsea are now "head of the queue" to sign the disgruntled star.
 
Toni's weekly salary of £170,000 at Bayern would be no problem for Abramovich, though the Mail claims Toni would accept a lower figure to get first-team football in the hope of making Italy's World Cup squad. As for Bayern, they are so desperate to offload Toni that club president Uli Hoeness is quoted as saying: "We still don't have a concrete offer but we are prepared to loan or sell him for no fee. If necessary we will not ask for a transfer fee. We want to have peace."

Roberto Mancini's trip to the January sales could end up rivalling Chelsea's in terms of outlay.

The new Manchester City boss is already being linked with a host of big names on the continent. The Mail reports that the highly-rated Palermo centre back Simon Kjaer is top of his list. The 20-year-old is also a target for Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool and would cost around £12m.

Mancini could also fork out £18m on Juventus centre-back Giorgio Chiellini, who is regarded as the best defender in Italy.

He is also thought to be interested in other defenders including Rubin Kazan left back Cristian Ansaldi, Cesar Azpilicueta of Osasuna and Sporting Lisbon's Daniel Carrico.

Gnarly midfield general Gennaro Gattuso is also in Mancini's sights, although the Italian terrier has recently signed a contract extention with AC Milan. Milos Krasic of CSKA Moscow could be brought in as an attacking midfielder.

Mancini is also known to be a fan of £22m-rated forward Antonio Cassano who is said to be unhappy at Sampdoria.

Where this leaves many of Hughes' signings remains to be seen, but Craig Bellamy and Shay Given are so angry over the sacking of Hughes that they may hand in transfer requests.

Another day, another Frenchman linked with a lucrative move to the Premier League. After speculation that Franck Ribery might soon be leaving Bayern Munich for the bright lights of London (either Chelsea or Arsenal) and a report linking Real Madrid's Karim Benzema with Manchester United, Marseille winger Hatem Ben Arfa is being talked up for a move across the Channel.
 
Both the daily French sports paper L'Equipe and the Daily Mail are reporting that the 22-year-old might soon be on his way to Old Trafford. The Mail says that United and Marseille are "locked in negotiations" over Ben Arfa, whose silky skills have helped his club climb to second place in the French First Division.
 
L'Equipe says Greek club Olympiakos are also in the running for the combustible Ben Arfa – who allegedly has a history of training ground bust-ups with teammates – but the French papers also indicates that the player's representatives intend to play hardball with any prospective club. Jean-Jacques Bertrand, the player's lawyer, is quoted as saying "Concerning the future of Hatem, it's in the hands of three people: Hatem, Michel Ouazine [the player's agent] and myself."
Finally, the Scottish Sun reports that Liverpool are keeping tabs on Celtic winger Aiden McGeady "with a view to an £8million January swoop". The paper says that former Celtic and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, who is now involved in Anfield's youth academy, was in Scotland on Sunday specifically to watch 23-year-old McGeady in action against Motherwell. ·